Dir Cyber Security Engineering

Job Summary

As the Director of Cyber Security Engineering, you will lead the strategic vision and implementation of advanced security frameworks, leveraging automation and AI/ML to enhance threat detection, response, and secure digital transformation across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This role requires deep expertise in Zero Trust Architecture, SASE, CSPM, AI/ML, DevSecOps practices, NDR, WAF and Firewalls.
You will oversee a team of security professionals and collaborate with IT, Architecture, engineering, and business units to ensure the protection of Optimum’s assets. The Director will be a forward-thinking leader with a passion for innovation, resilience, and secure digital transformation.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive Cyber Security strategy aligned with business objectives.
• Oversee platform engineering for security controls: VPAM/PKI, key management/HSM, log pipelines, DDoS, WAF, remote access, and network firewalls.
• Network & ISP security: engineer and operate DDoS scrubbing/runbooks; authoritative DNSSEC and WAF hygiene for customer-facing properties; coordinate policy distribution with backbone automation/orchestration.
• Lead the adoption of Zero Trust Architecture and SASE frameworks across enterprise and cloud environments.
• Hybrid Cloud and Emerging Technology such as AI/ML security: enforce Secure by Design guardrails for all Cloud and AI workloads (data boundaries, private tenancy, model and prompt protections).
• Software supply chain security: vendor security management enforced with Zero Trust Networking concepts.
• Oversee Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and Cloud Workload Protection (CWPP) tools.
• Collaborate with DevOps teams to embed and maintain security into CI/CD pipelines (DevSecOps) for cloud deployments.
• Incorporate AI/ML-driven practices to enhance cybersecurity posture, improve threat detection and response times, and ensure a more secure digital transformation.
• Enhance the security of corporate AI/ML initiatives, protect sensitive data, and aid the development of resilient systems that drive innovation while maintaining trust and compliance.

The Director also leads the Cyber Security Engineering Operations team, which runs the security platforms described above in production. The operations responsibilities include:

• Own the day-to-day operation, availability, and performance of enterprise security platforms, including firewalls, WAF, DDoS protection, SASE, VPAM, PKI, HSM, and security log pipelines.
• Establish and maintain a 24x7 on-call model for security engineering, with defined escalation paths and service levels for platform incidents and customer-impacting events.
• Serve as the Tier 3 engineering escalation point for the Security Operations Center during active incidents, including emergency blocks, rule changes, and DDoS mitigation.
• Manage the security policy and rule change process for firewalls, WAF, and proxies so that every change is requested, peer reviewed, tested, and recorded through enterprise change management.
• Drive patching, upgrades, and end-of-life replacement of security infrastructure so platforms remain on supported and hardened versions.
• Oversee certificate and key lifecycle operations, including issuance, renewal, revocation, and expiration monitoring, to prevent service outages caused by expired certificates.
• Maintain configuration baselines for security platforms and monitor for drift, unauthorized changes, and unused or overly permissive rules.
• Develop and keep current the operational runbooks, standard operating procedures, and disaster recovery plans for each security platform, and test failover on a regular schedule.
• Automate routine operational work such as rule provisioning, health checks, and reporting to reduce manual effort and error.
• Track operational metrics such as platform uptime, change success rate, mean time to restore, and ticket backlog, and report them to security leadership.
• Provide audit evidence and support control testing for PCI, SOX, and other regulatory and internal requirements that depend on security platform operations.
• Manage vendor support relationships, maintenance contracts, and license renewals for security engineering tools.
• Coordinate capacity planning for security platforms with network and cloud engineering ahead of traffic growth and new service launches.

Qualifications

•    Bachelor’s degree in computer science preferred, Cybersecurity, or related field experience; Master’s preferred.
•    15+ years of cybersecurity leadership experience, including network and cloud security or related field experience.
•    Experience with AWS, Azure, and GCP security controls.
•    Expertise in Zero Trust, SASE, CASB, CSPM, CWPP, NDR, AI/ML Security, WAF, and Firewalls.
•    Proven experience on utilizing automation best practices to drive efficiencies and cost savings.
•    Strong understanding of security protocols, cryptography, authentication, and authorization.
•    Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage complex projects.
•    Experience leading security engineering operations teams in a 24x7 production environment, including on-call and change management practices.
•    Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
•    Relevant certifications a plus: CISSP, CCSP, CISM, AWS Security Specialty, Azure Security Engineer, GCP.